1. Field
This disclosure relates to guided projectiles.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional artillery shells are projectiles that are fired from an artillery piece or other launcher and travel on a ballistic trajectory towards an intended target. A ballistic trajectory is a flight path that is governed by forces and conditions external to the projectile, such as the velocity provided at launch, gravity, air drag, temperature, wind, humidity, and other factors. A guided projectile is a projectile that exercises some degree of self-control over its trajectory. Guided projectiles typically deploy some form of control surfaces after launch and use these control surfaces to control the trajectory. Guided projectiles may home on some feature of the intended target, such as a reflection of a laser designator beam. Guided projectiles may be programmed to navigate to specific geographic coordinates using one or more of inertial sensors, GPS positioning, and other navigation methods.
Throughout this description, elements appearing in figures are assigned three-digit reference designators, where the most significant digit is the figure number where the element is introduced and the two least significant digits are specific to the element. An element that is not described in conjunction with a figure may be presumed to have the same characteristics and function as a previously-described element having the same reference designator.